Secretary Ran Sex Ring, Police Say

Police have charged a secretary with running a prostitution ring out of Palm Beach County School District headquarters near West Palm Beach.

School police arrested Dianne Auster, 48, on Dec. 2 after she agreed to meet an officer posing as a customer looking to hire someone to have sex with him and his girlfriend, police said. Information about the arrest was released on Friday.

Auster was charged with assignation of prostitution, the act of making an appointment for prostitution. The charge is a second-degree misdemeanor. According to police documents, however, Auster was willing to participate herself.

"I'll do anything," she told the officer who later arrested her. "We will just play it by ear and then if you want to have intercourse, I'll do that, too."

While Auster made appointments from her desk in the Planning and Real Estate Department, her clients did not come to school district headquarters for the service her business provided, Schools Police Chief Jim Kelly said.

"As far as we know, she was just using our phone and fax," he said. "No other School Board employees have been implicated at all."

Police began to suspect Auster was running an escort service on Nov. 30, after Linda Hines, director of Planning and Real Estate, told personnel officials that she had overheard Auster making suspicious phone calls. So did several other co-workers.

Part of the conversation Hines said she heard: "I need to protect my girls. We are making lots of money and having lots of fun. To protect my girls, I come out first."

Last school year, Auster worked as a secretary at West Gate Elementary near West Palm Beach. She made $21,600.

On Dec. 1, school police investigator Robert Walton called a pager number that Hines provided. The woman who responded said her name was Dianne.

Walton's report says he acted nervous and told Auster that he had a "new girlfriend who was a little wild and I was told to call her."

Walton asked if this was safe, and the woman said, "Everyone uses condoms, don't worry."

In later conversations, the officer identified himself as "Bubba," and made a phony appointment to meet Auster, who assured him she was discreet.

About 12:40 p.m., Walton went to room C-331, accompanied by uniformed Lt. Don Schapert. The two walked to Auster's desk, Walton told her he was Bubba, and then told her she was under arrest.

She told him she had just opened her business, Mardigras Models, which is a private modeling business, and that all she did was book and collect the fees. She stated she had no girls working for her yet and that she knew prostitution was illegal, but all of the agencies do it.

When police searched her desk the following day, they discovered pink and silver business cards for Mardigras Models. The cards describe a 24-hour business with males and females offering "private modeling." They also found instructions for the "models" explaining what they should do if they get in trouble on a call and tips on how not to get caught. These include asking clients whether they are police officers, checking identification, accepting cash only and never picking up money from a counter.

"If he holds money and says, `I get sex for this,' escort responds: I sell time, I am here to model, not sex,'" one tip reads.

Records show that Auster is divorced, has a daughter, and was arrested once in Palm Beach County. In 1982, Auster, who was then known as Dianne Spiro, was charged with aggravated assault with a knife. Her bail was set at $1,000. The outcome of that case was not available Friday.

Auster is expected to appear in court on Dec. 21. Kelly said her case was given to the State Attorney's Office on Friday.

Staff writer Kevin Krause contributed to this report. Kellie Patrick can be reached at kpatrick@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6629.